Avalanche
by Iniysa
Summary: Ephram is caught in an avalanche, will he survive? Complete
1. Chapter 1

Avalanche By: Lauren Freeman  
  
Note: Okay I have only seen two episodes of this series, and read a couple of fics, so if I am off on what the characters are like, I'm sorry. You should still read it anyway. Who knows you might like it!  
  
Note 2: Please review but don't flame.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the TV show Everwood. I am not making any money from this.  
  
Avalanche By: Lauren Freeman  
  
Chapter One  
  
"Oh crap!" Ephram yelled as he watched helplessly as a wall of snow rumbled down at him. Ephram looked around and found that he was trapped, there was no place to go, he was going to be buried alive. Ephram couldn't believe this was happening, he didn't have to come out here alone, but he just could not take his fathers lectures anymore. He had only planned to come over to the mountains for a few hours to clear his mind. Fear. Ephram regretted now that he did not tell anyone where he was going, or even that he was leaving. He knew that there was a slim chance that anyone would know where he was, let alone that he was in trouble again. Ephram curled up in a small cave hoping that it would shelter him enough from the blow. Everything went black.  
  
Ephram opened his eye only to find that he could not see anything. He was stuck in the cave with nothing but his backpack. His backpack, Ephram was suddenly very thankful his dad made him carry around a first aid kit one that just happened to come with a small flashlight with extra batteries. Turing on the light he found he had cuts and bruises all over his body, he then noticed that he was sitting in a pool of blood. Ephram gasped and began to look for what could cause that much blood. This led him to realize that he could not feel any of the injuries. He may not have spent a lot of time listening to his father talk about work, but he new this was a bad thing. Anyone who had took the community First-Aid and CPR courses his school required its students to take, would know that.  
  
It did not take long for Ephram to find out where all the blood was coming from, what he saw made his stomach flip as he gasped in shock. Apparently not only snow fell down the mountain, because a large piece of wood was sticking out of his right leg. The first thing he realized was that he needed to stop the bleeding, or he wasn't going to have to worry about freezing to death. Ephram grabbed bandage dressing from his kit and the gauze and began to wrap the wound, making sure he did not jar the wood. He noticed that the bandage was quickly soaked with blood, this was worse then he thought. A wave a dizziness passed over him and he took a deep calming breath, before cutting a long strap from his bag he tied it just above the wound around his leg firmly to try and slow the blood flow to the wound. He then began to cover more bandages over the other bandages. The bleeding began to slow down considerably. Ephram let go of a breath he did not know he was holding.  
  
"I'm going to thank my first-aid teacher if I make it out of this alive."  
  
Ephram began to clean his other wounds, and cover the ones he felt needed to be covered. Another wave of dizziness swept over him, and this time he put his hand on his head, only to find that he had a head injury also.  
  
'Great. Just what I needed." Ephram put a bandage on the wound then put his hat and hood on, to try and get as warm as possible. He then began to place cotton balls in between his toes, to try and keep them from rubbing together, incase they were frost bitten. Putting on his extra pair of clothes over his dirty ones and making sure his jacket was tight. Ephram took a shaky breath, before sitting back against the wall where he immediately lost consciousness. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two  
  
"There was an avalanche today from Coopers Mountain, one witness claims he saw a teenage boy hike into the area of where the snow fell only minutes before. Officials have been called in to dig up the area, the ID of this boy however has yet to be discovered. In other news." Dr. Brown clicked off the TV and starred worriedly at the clock, it was now 2:20 PM and Ephram had not come back yet.  
  
'What if it was Ephram who was caught in that avalanche?' The doctor thought. 'No, Ephram hates the wilderness. He would rather go someplace crowded that reminds him of New York City, then again if he wanted to be alone.' He began to pace again. Finally he made up his mind to have a sitter come and watch his daughter and wait by the phone, while he joined the search team. He was a doctor, and whoever was down there would most definitely need medical attention.  
  
Upon arriving, he was whisked into the search effort. At least half the small town of Everwood was digging, with shovels and anything else they could find. They had made a good dent in the snow, but had yet to find anyone. Dr. Brown applied himself to his work in order to get his mind off Ephram which was unfortunately impossible.  
  
They had been digging for hours when finally someone yelled.  
  
"I think I found him!" The doctor ran to the man, and saw a shadow of a boy laying in a small cave unconscious, there was a bag casting a shadow on the boys face. Dr. Brown grabbed the bag to get it out of his way and gasped as he got a look at it. He recognized this bag, he noticed it was soaked in blood, before he tossed it behind him and scrambled into the cave. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three  
  
"Ephram!" The doctor yelled for his son, who did not respond.  
  
"Get me some paramedics! I need a back board, C-Caller, the works!" The paramedics ran up with there hands filled with equipment. Dr. Brown began to explain to them what he had found so far. "He has a piece of wood about three inches by three inches sticking out of his right leg. He also appears to have a head wound. He is unconsciousness, and has lost a lot of blood. It appears he was awake long enough to stop the bleeding before he passed out."  
  
The team carefully started Ephram on a IV, and began to take his vitals while inspecting the wound and making sure the boy was stable. Carefully they put the C-Caller around Ephrams neck and tied the boy to a backboard. They brought Ephram out of the cave and began to take him up to the road Dr. Brown was holding on to Ephrams hand when Ephram began to have a seizure. The paramedics moved faster to the ambulance where they set Ephram on a stretcher, one of the paramedics a female gave Ephram a shot that seemed to stop the seizure. Dr. Brown was going over everything he had learned in his head about what could be happening to his son, He had never been so afraid in his life.  
  
Ephram seized once more on the trip to the hospital, where the hospital staff was waiting for them. The paramedics yelled out their findings to the doctors and nurses assigned to take care of this patient. Dr. Brown was asked to wait in the waiting room, a doctor would come out to talk to him later. Dr. Brown felt a tear run down his cheek as he nodded and went to the waiting room, where almost the whole town was waiting, along with a couple of reporters.  
  
"Dr. Brown, how did it feel to find out the boy in the avalanche was you son?" One reporter asked.  
  
"No comment, go away." The distraught father told them calmly, none of the reporters got a chance to ask another question, the good people of Everwood made sure of that. Time passed slower then it had ever done before, it was his wife all over again. Another tear ran down Dr. Brown's cheek. Finally forty minutes later an ER doctor came out looking exhausted.  
  
"Dr. Brown?" Andy stood up quickly and walked over to the doctor in the far- unpopulated corner of the waiting room for privacy. "My name is Doctor Carter, I have news of your son." 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four  
  
It had been three days since the avalanche. Dr. Brown was rarely seen out-side of Ephrams hospital room in the ICU of Denver's Children's Hospital where they had been sent after emergency surgery on Ephrams head. They did not work much on Ephrams other major injuries until after they had him more stable. Now Ephram Brown lay in a deep medical induced coma, in which the doctors had placed him in to help him heal. This did not stop the seizures however, which had everyone very worried. No one but Dr. Brown was allowed to visit Ephram, and Daila cried every night as did Amy.  
  
Amy, not even over Colin's death yet, and now the boy she loved as much as Colin was laying in a hospital bed, in a coma, looking quite like Colin did. Amy stood in front of the glass doors looking in on Ephram, at the numerous tubes, wires and casts. The doctors said that they would not start to take him out of the coma for a week at least, she was just about to leave when she saw Ephrams whole body jerk. Seeing that Dr. Brown had took a much needed lunch break, she yelled for one of the Doctors, a team quickly had injected Ephram with a medicine and the seizure stopped. Though she could not hear anything, she could see the Doctor shake his head, looking puzzled. Amy walked away crying once again, her father was waiting for her outside ICU.  
  
A week passed and Ephram showed his first signs of movement. His hand twitched, and at first Dr. Brown thought another seizure was coming along, however nothing else happened. Later his hand twitched again, and Ephram groaned, but stayed asleep. It was not until the next day that Ephram opened his eyes, much to his fathers joy. It appeared that Ephram was trying to speak but all that came out was a a croak, Andy smiled.  
  
"Ephram, you're in the hospital, I am going to go get your doctor, don't move." Ephram blinked but did nothing more. Andy ran out and back in with a Doctor and Nurse behind him. The Nurse carried a cup of ice chips.  
  
"Hello Ephram, I am Dr. Carter, I want you to suck slowly on one of these ice chips for me, that should help your throat and so that you can spreak. Ephram nonned slightly. After five minutes, the chip was gone.  
  
"Thanks." Ephram whispered.  
  
"Can you tell my your first and last name?"  
  
"Ephram Brown."  
  
"Who old are you?"  
  
"Sixteen"  
  
"Do you remember what happened?" Ephram paused at this one, a look of concentration crossed his face.  
  
"Umm.An avalanche?"  
  
"Very good. You are currently in the ICU at Denver's Children's Hospital, where you have been for a little over a week. You had a brain injury in which it was operated on, however you have been having seizures. We have had a specialist come in, and he still would like to do further tests, however you may have a form of Epilepsy. Now this could go away on it's own or you may be on medicine for the rest of your life." Ephram looked shocked. Andy squeezed Ephrams hand.  
  
"Will get through this, Ephram. Don't worry." Ephram nodded again.  
  
"You also had several other wounds, we had to operate on your leg to get the wood out, and you will find several casts and bandages on your body. Don't worry you will have them off in no time. Now, we are going to run some tests, and you will probably be happy to know that you will more then likely be placed in a normal room, within a couple of days."  
  
"Thanks." Ephram whispered again, the Doctor smiled. "No problem."  
  
A/N: Sorry this is so short and after so long! I really did not mean to take this much time, but I have had writers block when it came to this story. I hope to get you a longer one soon. : ) R/R! 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
  
Ephram sighed, as the door to his new room closed, no more glass walls where anyone could stare at you as if you were an animal in a zoo. Ephram felt his eyes droop, it was after hours and his father had long left for his hotel room.  
  
Ephram woke early the next morning to the sound of his door opening, his fathers smiling form walked in. He had been looking forward to Ephram leaving the Pediatric ICU as much as Ephram. Ephram gave a weak smile then groaned as one of the wires attached to his forehead monitoring his brain waves fell across his face. Despite having been awake for a few days, Ephram was still weak, he found doing the simplest things like lifting his hands to move the wire off his face exhausting. Giving the wire a death glare, Ephram slowly moved his hand up and moved the wire, a relived look crossed his face as he found that it was much easier today.  
  
"How are you feeling today?"  
  
"Better. When can I leave?"  
  
"Not for awhile, I talked to your doctor. Your going to need another operation on your leg, they wanted to do it earlier, but you have not been stable enough for it. They feel that the medicine they are giving you for your epilepsy is finally working, as you can tell being you haven't had an episode in a couple of days." Ephram groaned, another operation might mean a longer stay in the hospital.  
  
"I want to go home."  
  
"And you will, but not soon I'm afraid. But hey no glass walls!" Ephram smiled. "How about some visitors? Now that you are in a regular room, the entire town of Everwood is waiting outside." Andy grinned at the horror- stricken look that ran across Ephrams face. Andy turned around and practically skipped out the door, not a minute later, Amy walked in the room colorful balloons spouting 'Get well soon!' floating behind her almost getting stuck in the closing door.  
  
"Hey Ephram, how are you feeling?" Ephram smiled, seeing her always made him happy, no matter what she said to him.  
  
"Better, I want out of here, but dad says it might be awhile." Ephram groaned.  
  
"Why? You look a lot better."  
  
"My leg. It still needs another operation. Then there will be physical therapy no doubt, I hate hospitals."  
  
"You and me both." There was an uncomfortable silence before Amy spoke up again. "So do you know what you want to be 'when you grow up?'" She spoke the last part in a funny voice while rolling her eyes.  
  
"I know I don't want to be a doctor!"  
  
"You and me both. And you know sometime I feel like by not carrying the family tradition in working in the medical field, I will somehow be letting my family down."  
  
"Don't. It's your life, not anyone else's, make your own choices or from what I've been told you might live to regret it."  
  
"And where did you hear that?"  
  
"TV of course, it was on the Dr. Speech show yesterday morning, you know the cable is out here, and they only get one local station." Amy laughed.  
  
"So are those for me, or are you trying to fly?" Ephram pointed at the balloons without lifting his hand.  
  
"There for you of course. Something to try an cheer you up.not much." Ephram smiled.  
  
"There great and I am definitely happier. So tell me is all of Everwood really out in the waiting room?" Ephram got serious again looking a bit nervous.  
  
"Not really, but don't tell your dad I told you, they were all here though at some point, I'm afraid if anyone did not know who you were in our small town, they do now, not to mention most of America. You should see the mail! People all over the world sent you something, the postman Mr. Smith had to give your dad the letters in bags, you might have something to do soon enough." A look of pure terror crossed Ephrams face, they last thing he ever wanted was to be popular. 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six  
  
A/N: I think my writer's block for this story may be lifting! I need to hurry and write before I lose the ideas. LOL! Sorry it takes me so long to up-date. I wish I had a beta reader! Hint, hint, hint.   
  
There was a small knock on Ephrams door, it had been an hour since Amy had left and Ephram had been forced to eat hospital food with the help of a male nurse of all people. If someone was going to feed him, couldn't it at least be a good looking FEMALE nurse?!?  
  
"Come in." Ephram said in as loud a voice he could muster. This whole dependent thing was really getting on his nerves. The door opened slowly, and a young ten-year-old girl stepped in whom Ephram recognized as his sister.  
  
"Hey Delia." Ephram smiled trying to cheer up his frightened looking sister.  
  
"Hi Ephram. How are you feeling?" She took a step closer to his bed.  
  
"Not that bad, you?" Ephram asked.  
  
"Don't joke about this! You almost died like mom did! You promised not to leave me, you promised! Y-your not going to leave me are you?" Delia had tears running down her face.  
  
"No I'm not going to leave you. Come here." Delia slowly walked up to her brother, who motioned for her to get on the bed. After a moment of consideration she carefully got onto the bed. Ephram made sure none of the tubing would get tangled up or worse come out, before he had Delia lay down in his arms.  
  
"You see, I'm still breathing, and I intend to keep breathing." Ephram grinned. Delia nodded and looked up at the monitors.  
  
"Ephram, what do all these machines do?" She asked.  
  
"Well, that one with the lines that keep going up and down is monitoring my heart. That smaller screen with the squiggly lines is monitoring my brain waves."  
  
"What's it doing that for?" She asked.  
  
"Do you know what a seizure is?" Ephram asked, Delia nodded.  
  
"Yes, Amber Marie used to have them all the time when I went to school in New York. Mrs. Knight my teacher said that she had a form of.Epsy or something like that. Is that what you have?" Delia asked looking worried once again.  
  
"Yep, and it's nothing to worry about. I will take medication and it will help keep me from having seizures, oh and it's called Epilepsy."  
  
"Epilepsy. What happens if you have a seizure and I'm alone with you?" Delia asked.  
  
"Well, from what I learned in first aid training, you would make sure everything around me is cleared away so that I don't hit anything. Then you might want to put something soft under my head to keep me my head from hitting the ground. If the seizure last more then five minutes call nine- one-one. Other wise I can just go to the doctor later. Let's see, you should not try to hold me down, and you should not put anything in my mouth."  
  
"That sounds easy enough." Delia said in a small voice before a yawn came out. Before Ephram could say anything else she was asleep. Ephram looked down at his little sister before he felt his own eyes droop, and he too fell asleep.  
  
Andy Brown was a little worried, he had told his daughter five minutes, and it had now been twenty. She had promised to come back and help him carry all these bags of mail to his son, and now he was faced with doing it himself. One of the nurses from Ephrams floor who had just gotten off smiled at him as she brought down a cart for him to use. Saying thank you, he loaded the tray and pushed the heavy cart into the hospital, up the elevator and into Ephrams floor.  
  
"Did my daughter come out?" Andy asked the nurse coming out of Ephrams room. The nurse smiled and shook her head saying no. She then put her finger over her mouth and shhed him before walking off. Andy looked after the nurse confused before opening the door, pulling the cart in and turned around to face Ephrams bed. He could not help but smile at what he saw, a tear formed in his eye as an idea came. Reaching into his over night bag he found Ephrams digital camera in which he promptly took three picture from both sides and the end of the bed. With a gin, Andy sat in the uncomfortable chair and fell asleep himself. 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven  
  
Ephram woke up in time for dinner and found his sister had only just woken up as well. Three trays we set up with food, and Ephram smiled strangely happy to be with his family. Then he spotted the bags of letters.  
  
"Oh, those are your letters! I was supposed to go back down and help dad bring them up. Opps." She whispered to Ephram not wanting the wake her dad.  
  
"That's okay, he obviously found another way to bring them up." Ephram replayed. There was a loud yawn from the chair beside the siblings and they looked to see Andy waking up.  
  
"Hey there sleepy heads, have a nice nap?" And asked smiling. Both Ephram and Delia nodded. "Good, ah I see our meals have been brought to us, today. I will have to thank the nurses." Ephram was determined to try and eat by himself, and was happy to get his hand up to the plate, but found he had trouble gripping the spoon. An evil look crossed Delias face, and Ephram groaned, knowing exactly what she was thinking. A year before, Deila had gotten really sick and had been in bed for a full week, for half of it, she had, had problems eating herself, one night Andy had to go to an emergency leaving Ephram to feed his sister. In the end it had been a lot of fun for Ephram and Delia would not talk to him for a full week after that. It was pay back time.  
  
Delia took the spoon from Ephrams hand and gave him an evil grin.  
  
"I will help you, dear brother." She stated. Oh how Ephram wished he could run away. His dad, stood above them with the camera, making the situation much worse. Filling the spoon with salt-less mashed potatoes, she began to fly the spoon around making air plane noises. Knowing he deserved this Ephram only opened his mouth and let the spoon come in. His face scrunched up at the taste but he did not complain. Meanwhile Delia was having a grand old time feeding him. Finally all the food on his tray was gone and Delia took a bite of her own, then promptly spit it out.  
  
"This stuff is horrible!" She screeched. Ephram only nodded, suddenly feeling strange. A quick random thought told him he was about to have a seizure, and he quickly moved his tray away as best he could before everything went black. He did not hear Delia scream, or an alarm go off above him and in the nurses station. He did not see his father grab his daughter off his bed, then run out to make sure help was coming. Slowly though sensations came back to him, as his brain began to fire proper impulses. He noticed that his breathing was a bit erratic and began to work on breathing normally. Finally after what seemed like forever he was breathing properly again, and that's when he noticed that he was extremely tired, which really did not make since because he had only just woke up. Slowly he opened his eyes and looked into his fathers worried ones.  
  
"Dad." Ephram mumbled before he fell asleep. When he woke up again, he was relived to feel better then he did the day before. His room was empty and the cart of letters had been pulled up beside his bed. Ephram found that a lot of his strength had returned and managed to pull the string holding the bag together. Curiosity was running rampit now, why would so many people be writing him? He grabbed the first letter and noticed it was addressed from Houston, Texas.  
  
~*~ Dear Mr. Brown,  
  
My name is Amy, I am now seventeen, and last year my brother went to Colorado for a ski trip. There was a mini avalanche, and he didn't survive. I just wanted to write to you to say that you are very lucky and I'm glad what happened to my brother did not happen to you. According to the news, you have a younger sister and your mom died. Your family will need you, no matter what happens stick with them. Good luck Ephram Brown.  
  
Amy Smith Houston, Texas. ~*~  
  
Ephram found a pen and a pad of paper in the nightstand beside his bed and began to jot down a short note to Amy.  
  
~*~ Dear Amy,  
  
My good friend's name is Amy. It's a good name. I am sorry for your brother, and I hope you will stick to your family as well. Thank you for writing me you have made my day here in this boring hospital room a little lighter. I will try my best to stick with my family, I know they love me.  
  
Ephram Brown ~*~  
  
Finding an envelope Ephram placed the letter in the envelope and addressed it, before setting it aside and placing Amy's letter in what he would call his keep pile. He then pulled out another letter. He was not sure he would write back to everyone, but he hoped to write back to a lot. Maybe he could even get a few pen pals out of this.  
  
~*~ Dear Ephram,  
  
I am Joshua Tester, I am writing this because my mom is making me. You see I too am a survivor of an avalanche, we apparently are rare, or at least that is what my mom says. She can be so annoying and over bearing, sometimes I just want to get out and not come back. Oh well, that's life right? Anyways I hope you are doing better then I am, I have been left paralyzed for the rest of my stupid life. I really hate this, took me almost a week to learn how to get in and out of my own bed. Then there was the whole moving my room to the first floor of our house, I loved my old room, now I have this dinky little room with bars all over it. The only thing good about it is the fact that I now have my own bathroom, but it too had bars all over it. Well I better get this into an envelope before my mom comes and wants to proof read this. Thanks for listening.or reading. Good luck.  
  
Joshua Main ~*~  
  
Ephram replied to this one as well, before there was another knock on his door.  
  
'Oh well, at least I got a couple of minutes alone.' Ephram thought as he turned to the door, to see who had walked in. It was a nurse with a tray filled with shot. Ephram gulped, he really hated needles. 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight  
  
A/N: MWAHAHA! I finally know where this story is going! HEHE! It is nowhere near where I had planned it, of course I had not planned it to go past the Avalanche either. G Anyways expect this story to get better, cause right now I think it's boring. LOL!  
  
Ephram smiled as he felt his eyes start to drift shut, he had replied to seven letters, and read over thirty, this was kind of fun. Ephram fell asleep only to be awoken by his father three hours later. A tray of food sat covered in front of his, and glancing at the window told him it was morning.  
  
"Good morning sunshine!" Andy exclaimed a big smile on his face. Ephram only growled. He hated mornings and it always unnerved him how his father was always up bright and cheery. Immediately Ephram could tell this was going to be a bad day, upon looking at the food on his tray, he new he was right.  
  
"Dad? You wouldn't happen to feel like going to get me real food? I won't tell if you won't tell." Yeah right, his father just HAD to be a doctor himself, he was stuck eating what looked to be salt-less eggs, along with cold sausage and toast without butter.  
  
"Oh come on, I do not need to diet, I was wounded not sick." Ephram complained. It got him no where, and Ephram ate very little of it meaning he was hungry. Then his father sprang the news on him.  
  
"Ephram, I talked to your doctor. Since you had that seizure, they are postponing your operation until they can make sure you're under the right dose of medicine."  
  
"So what your saying is that I'll be in here longer?" Ephram practically yelled. Andy merely nodded. Ephram cussed in his head. He lay back in his bed determined to try and make this day better and was relieved when he felt sleepy. Right before he fell asleep again the though that is was weird he was sleepy when he only just woke up an hour before  
  


* * *

  
Andy frowned as he watched Ephram fall back to sleep having only eaten a little. Shrugging it off, Andy walked out of the room to check on his daughter currently sleeping in the waiting room. He surprised himself when he too fell asleep. Andy woke up with a start as a voice over the intercom was speaking urgently. The only thing he caught was 'code blue.' Andy sat up and watched a large team of doctors and nurses run out from where ever they happened to be and run in to one of the rooms. Andy rubbed his eyes, and yawned before everything clicked, that was Ephram's room they were running into. Andy sprang to life and ran full speed to the room where he slipped in unnoticed by the emergency staff.  
  
Ephram lay on the bed a blue tint around his lips and face. How could this happen? He was fine this morning, talking, wanting real food. Now a mere hour later he lay in his bed not breathing, alarms going off from several different monitors. Time seemed to stop, a doctor had just hooked his son to a respirator another one was doing CPR, a nurse was pumping medicines in to Ephram's body while another one was getting the paddles on the crash cart ready. Andy took a deep breath, tears running unconsciously down his face. This wasn't happening!  
  
"Clear!" Ephram jerked, the lines on the monitor jerked as well then went back to how it was going.  
  
"No..." Andy groaned.  
  
"Clear!" It happened again, then again. Andy sunk to his knees.  
  
"Please don't let this be happening." Andy sobbed,  
  
"Clear!" Everything went black. 


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine  
  
Ephram found himself in pitch-blackness. He walked around, what seemed to be a never ending tunnel, until finally he saw a bright white light. The thought, 'don't go towards the light' went through his head, but something was pulling him towards it, so he kept walking. The light suddenly surrounded him.  
  
Ephram slowly opened his eyes and almost panicked at not being able to breathe, but then noticed there was a tube going down his throat. Ephram inwardly groaned. Glass walls, he was back in the ICU. But where was his dad?  
  
A doctor walked in and smiled at seeing him awake. It did not take Ephram long to recognize Dr. Carter.  
  
"Welcome back to the living, Mr. Brown. You arrested and we would appreciate it if you would not do that again." Ephram only looked at him in confusion. "You are currently on a respirator being you stopped breathing and have not yet reached a point where you can be taken off of it. But if my calculations are right, you should be able to breathe on your own by tonight." Ephram nodded.  
  
Ephram looked again towards the glass door, as if looking for someone.  
  
"Ephram, I have some serious news to shear with you. Please stay calm, but there was an accident while we were trying to resuscitate you. We were shocking your heart trying to get it pumping again, when the break on your bed malfunctioned. The bed hit your father in the head, he is currently in a coma." Ephram just stared at the doctor like he had two heads. When the doctor did not say anything like, just kidding Ephram began to panic. The EKG machine went off because his heart was starting to beat to fast.  
  
"Ephram, I need you to calm down. Now your father could wake up at anytime, there is no need to panic. Right now I want you to concentrate on getting better, do you understand?" Ephram just lay there for a minute before he finally nodded.  
  
"Good. Now rest, I will see you tonight where I will explain a little more."  
  
Ephram fell asleep almost immediately. Evening came soon and Doctor Carter was back with a nurse, ready to take the tube out. Before Ephram new it the tube was out and Ephram felt like he was coughing up a lung. An ice chip slipped in to his mouth.  
  
"What happened to me?" Ephram asked after the ice chip did its trick.  
  
"You had a seizure, there was a problem with your head wound. We resuscitated you and took you back into surgery. You will be happy to know that it should be smooth sailing from now on."  
  
"What about my leg?" Ephram asked.  
  
"Healing fine. We did the second operation on it yesterday."  
  
"Do I still have epilepsy?"  
  
"Yes, you will be on medication for possibly the rest of your life." Dr. Carter explained.  
  
"Is my dad awake yet?" Ephram asked the dreaded questions.  
  
"I'm afraid not. But his wound is still healing."  
  
"And my sister?"  
  
"Doctor Abbot came and took her home with him."  
  
"What hospital is my dad in, and when can I go see him?" Ephram asked.  
  
"He is just down the road, at Denver. If all goes well, you can be discharged next week."  
  
"That soon?" Ephram asked confused. He was under the impression that he would be in the hospital for months to come."  
  
"That's it. Now that we found the main problem and have gotten all of your operations finished, we just want you to stick around and heal. If your father is not well enough by then you will be staying with the Abbots as well." Ephram did not question; why the Abbots, he really didn't care. "Of course you will have to take physical therapy. Most of which can be done by the doctors in Everwood, however at least once a week you will be required to come down here so that your program can be changed according to how you are doing. That would be a good time to visit you father." Ephram only nodded. He did not want to think about all of this. 


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: I am so sorry for the long wait! I had everything planned out and this and the next chapter written then I realized I couldn't stand all the major jumps I had in it so I began to rewrite. That's where my major excuses come in, where I was only working twice a week, I began to work every day. Add classes and homework, my other stories and more I realized I hadn't even looked at this fic in forever. So again I am very sorry and don't worry, even is up dating slows down, this fic will be finished. ï - Lauren   
Chapter 10 

"Are you ready?" Dr. Abbot asked Ephram as he help him into a wheelchair. Ephram looked around his hospital room one last time before he nodded, but winced his head still hurt, it always seemed to these days.

"Yeah. Thank you for taking me." Ephram whispered. He was still having trouble believing his father was in a coma in some other hospital.

"Your welcome, now I have talked to your grandparents in New York and they are planning a visit next week do be prepared. It was the only way I could keep you here in Everwood and not send you off to New York where you wouldn't be able to visit you father." Andy explained.

"Thanks."

"Enough with the thank yous. Now we are going to stop by McDonalds grab something to eat then you can go see your father. If done right we will be home by dinner." Andy said wheeling Ephram out of the hospital, Amy and Bright and Delia who refused to say a word, were waiting inside the SUV. After helping Ephram into the car they silently drove off to McDonalds then to the hospital Andy was currently in.

Ephram's stomach turned as he was wheeled closer and closer to his fathers' room. Delia who was holding his hand kept squeezing harder and harder.

"It will be okay." Ephram whispered to her. She only nodded.

They were there. Ephram wanted to wait outside the door for awhile but Bright opened the door and he was pushed in. With the exception of the small dressing on his head, their father looked to just be sleeping. Delia began to cry and crawled up on to the bed and began to cry. Ephram took their fathers hand. Neither noticed the Abbots step out of the room to give them privacy.

"Don't worry, Delia, he'll wake up." Ephram whispered. "Please wake up."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Ephram wanted to scream, he hated, hated, hated rehab. Moreover, to make it worse Dr. Abbot was also making him do rehab at the house as well. Nevertheless, there was always a silver lining at the end of the day, when he was taken to see his father. Delia would be there when Ephram was in rehab, and then it would be his turn. Two weeks had gone by since Ephram had been let out of the hospital. It seemed like and eternity.

Ephram rolled himself into his fathers' room and sat with Delia in his lap for a few minutes before Delia smiled a small smile and left the room. Ephram rolled up closer to his father.

"Hey, Dad. We really need you, please come back." Ephram mumbled taking his fathers right hand. He was shocked when he felt movement in said hand.

"Dad?" Ephram spoke louder, there was definitely movement. Ephram grabbed the call button and pushed in the button. A nurse appeared in the doorway.

"What's up Ephram?" Nurse Clare, who seemed to always be there asked.

"He moved his hand." Ephram smiled hopefully. Clare was at the bed in an instant.

"Doctor Brown? Can you open your eyes for me?" All she got was a low mumble that sounded rather like no. Ephram grinned again. Clare smiled.

"So he is. I'll be right back." She left the room to get a doctor. Ephram truly smiled for the first time.

The Next Day

Ephram grinned as he rolled himself into his fathers' room; he was sitting up with Delia asleep in his lap.

"Hey dad." Ephram laughed quietly as he rolled himself to his fathers' bed and slowly and painfully stood up so that he could also sit in the bed. His father worriedly helped him on to the bed. When Ephram was comfortable, he sighed.

"How are you feeling?" Ephram asked.

"I should be asking you the same thing." Andy smiled. "I had the strangest dream, you were crashing…" Ephram held up his hand.

"I did, they forgot to lock the bed when they shocked me and it slammed into you." Ephram explained. "It was strange…" Ephram started.

"What was?" Andy said in a shaky voice.

"When I crashed, I was still there. I was floating above my bed it was the strangest feeling. I saw it all happen, and then mom was there. She told me she loves us and is watching us. She said it wasn't my time. Then I was waking up back in bed." Ephram whispered. "I haven't told anyone that before." There was silence for a while as Ephram lay back against his father and tiredly shut his eyes. Andy let a single tear roll down his cheek.

His family was together again. They would be all right.

The End

A/N: Okay this story was going to be a really long story that went into the lives of everyone when they are older with there own children, but I decided to go ahead and finish it. I am thinking of a story that might show everyone all grown up, will see what happens. :) Hope you enjoyed! - Lauren


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